These wheels can handle sand and surf. Grab the sunscreen.

For Linda Green James, going to the beach is usually her first priority when planning a summer vacation with her daughter Suzi Osborne, 47, who uses a wheelchair due to a traumatic brain injury.

But when the two stay at a friend’s apartment in Pompano Beach, Florida, they mostly resign themselves to hanging out around the pool.

During their visit in January, Mrs. James was delighted to spy a beach wheelchair, a device with thick, oversized tires that can roll over sand and uneven terrain, which they borrowed from a beach bar. “We had been going to this condo for years, but Suzi had never been able to go to the beach, only the pool,” says Ms. James, 75, a retired college professor from Brownsville, Tennessee.

“It’s no fun going to the beach if one of your family members can’t come,” she said. “With the chair, family time is just that.”

A ‘massive business opportunity’

Beach wheelchairs are becoming more common on U.S. shores, thanks to laws, government initiatives, and growing demand from disabled travelers.

The wheelchairs available for rent or free at many public beaches have a PVC or steel frame balloon-like bands. A three-wheeled version with a reclined frame allows disabled beachgoers to float in the surf.

Most chairs require someone to push, but some models are motorized, offering more independence. Typically, visitors can borrow the chairs on a first-come, first-serve basis, from beaches or rental shops. Some beaches also accept reservations.

For millions of people like Mrs. James and Mrs. Osborne, accessibility is at the heart of vacation planning. About 2 percent of the U.S. population uses a manual wheelchair or motorized mobility aid, according to the US housing survey 2019 by the US census. Disabled travelers account for $58.2 billion of the $1.2 trillion U.S. travel market — nearly 5 percent — and they travel about as much as people without disabilities, MMGY worldwidea tourism marketing company, said in a 2022 report.

“Inclusivity is not only the right thing to do ethically, it’s also a huge business opportunity,” said Chris Davidson, an executive vice president of MMGY Travel Informationthe company’s travel market research division.

The Americans With Disabilities Act requires all state and local governments to “give people with disabilities equal opportunity to benefit from all their programs, services, and activities.” The ADA does not cover providing beach wheelchairs, but a different law – the Architectural Barriers Act – applies to national parks with beaches, which must have an access route such as a boardwalk or mat.

“The ADA applies to all public beaches,” said Jennifer Perry, an access specialist with the Northeast ADA Center, a government-funded organization that provides advice on ADA compliance. “They have a requirement to provide program access, but there’s no clear roadmap to what that is.”

Rian Wilkinson, president of Marine Rescue Products, in Middletown, RI, sells mats and wheelchairs to beaches across the country. “Most cities make it a point to say, ‘We’re ADA compliant,'” he said. “Even the local beach here has six wheelchairs.”

Freedom and a place for a fishing rod

Founded in 1996 by Mike Deming and his wife, Karen Deming, after she was paralyzed in a car accident. DeBug Mobility Products makes stainless steel beach wheelchairs, including a three-wheel floating model for $2,275 and a standard model with a fixed leg rest for $2,475. The standard model can be customized with options to tilt the seat, recline the backrest and elevate the legs, and add holders for a fishing rod, drink and umbrella.

“It gives wheelchair users a sense of normalcy and freedom,” says Ms. Deming, 61. “There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of the driveway and not being able to move on when all your friends and family are on the beach.”

Some motorized beach wheelchair manufacturers rent their chairs directly to hotel guests. Sand helperone such company, offers people battery-operated four-wheel drive wheelchairs for about $500 a week in Florida and several other states, and $30 an hour in Ocean City, Md. The company sells its chairs for about $12,000 — an especially hefty sum considering that beach wheelchairs aren’t covered by Medicaid or Medicare.

There is also at least one manual model that can be propelled by the user: the Hippocampe All-Terrain beach wheelchair, which sells for around $4,000 and is manufactured by Vipamat, based in France. Among the more economical options, Wheeleez offers kits to convert a street wheelchair into a beach wheelchair. Options range from about $300 to $1,000, depending on the size and number of wheels.

Unlocking the ‘magic’ of beaches

Finding information about beach accessibility can be challenging. The California Coastal Commission lists at least 114 locations in the state with beach wheelchairs, several of which — including Imperial Beach in San Diego County and Laguna Beach in Orange County — offer free motorized chairs. But patchy lists from other local governments and beaches require people to check destinations one by one.

Some accessible travel writers are working to close the information gap. Sylvia Longmire, 48, of Sanford, Florida, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, has compiled lists of dozens of Florida beaches that offer beach wheelchairs and mats on her accessible travel blog, Rotate the globe. “I went eight years without going to the beach and thought it was forever out of reach for me,” Ms Longmire wrote on the blog. “This was until I discovered two revolutionary inventions – the beach mat and beach wheelchair – that opened up the magic of my native Florida beaches to me again.”

Jennifer Allen, 39, an Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, mom whose son Jaden, 7, was diagnosed with spina bifida in 2017 and uses a wheelchair, lists on her website more than 50 beaches that offer wheelchairs from New York to Florida, Miracles at your fingertips. “When we got our son’s diagnosis, we had to find new ways to travel and get out and about,” Ms Allen said. “We couldn’t find many resources to help us with that, especially with children. I decided to share as we travel and learn so that other parents can be inspired and empowered to get out and explore with their children with disabilities.”

On a trip to Buckroe Beach in Hampton, Virginia, Mrs. Allen was delighted to find a paved boardwalk and a surfing wheelchair. “They had all the things we needed, but we didn’t know beforehand because they didn’t have it available online,” she said.

Despite all the new measures and the growing number of wheelchair-accessible beaches — from Texas to New York to the U.S. Virgin Islands — some places remain an “accessibility nightmare,” Ms. Allen said, referring to North Carolina. This summer, her family is planning a trip to the Outer Banks in that state, where she said, “There’s less parking, less accessible access points, and fewer beach wheelchairs to borrow.”

The family will rent a beach wheelchair to be delivered to an oceanfront rental, but, she said, there will still be a major obstacle: “It sounds like we still have some work to do to get the chair over the dunes. .” .”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on smarter travel and inspiration for your next vacation. Are you dreaming of a future getaway or just traveling in your lounge chair? View our 52 places to go in 2023.